The UK Health Safety Agency (UKHSA) has detected an unusual increase in Streptococcus pyogenes infections in the last month. This bacterium is responsible for mild infections, but also for more serious conditions such as scarlet fever and, above all, invasive disease. The British authorities have raised the alarm after at least eight children died from this pathogen. In Spain, the Spanish Society of Paediatric Infectious Diseases has reported that there have also been some deaths and is analysing whether there has been an unusual increase in cases.

In the midst of an energy, economic and geopolitical crisis, and still in a pandemic, the Climate Summit in Egypt (COP27) will kick off on 6 November with the challenge of bringing the climate fight to the forefront. We explain the main stumbling blocks, the unfinished business from the previous summit and the goals it has set itself.

The National Microbiology Centre has confirmed the first positive human case of H5N1 avian influenza detected in Spain, Animal's Health said yesterday. This is the worker of a poultry farm located in the province of Guadalajara who remained asymptomatic and isolated until he tested negative. This is the second case detected in Europe after the UK declared its case in January this year.

The new tailored doses against Omicron have arrived just in time for the upcoming autumn and winter wave. Although we do not know which variant will circulate in the coming months, these vaccines are safe and will help reduce transmission in what could be difficult months from a care pressure point of view.

Regulatory agencies in the US and Europe - the FDA and the EMA - have licensed vaccination against Omicron focusing on different variants and sub-variants. Different procedures and studies in humans and animals have informed the agencies' decisions. Experts hope that these new doses will provide sufficient protection this autumn and winter to mitigate the impact of the next wave.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has authorised the administration of monkeypox vaccine intradermally rather than subcutaneously. This will allow more people to be vaccinated in the absence of doses, but effectiveness and safety data are limited. The Public Health Commission has decided to follow this strategy except for pregnant women and immunocompromised persons. 

In summer it is more difficult to keep food at the optimum temperature to prevent the development of micro-organisms. Cooking and storing what we eat properly are some of the keys to avoiding food-borne illnesses.

Science magazine has published a report revealing multiple indications of fraud in one of the most cited publications on Alzheimer's disease. We explain what it means for the science that studies this disease.

With the increase in monkeypox cases worldwide, the World Health Organisation has declared the outbreak an international public health emergency. There is now a recommended vaccine for its prevention or mitigation. Here is what we know about it and what the current recommendations are.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is still considering the approval of Hipra's SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. In mid-May, Hipra said it was ready to "have the vaccine available in a few days" following EMA approval, which it expected by the middle of this year, but which is being delayed until at least after July, as Elia Torroella, Hipra's R&D and Registration Director, explained at a breakfast briefing organised by the company today.